1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to providing a web-based mapping service for pedestrians and more specifically, pedestrians on a college campus. Further, the present invention relates to providing customized pedestrian routes highlighting campus and community locations while providing navigation options concerning walking distance and safety factors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In today's world, customizable mapping services have become a part of daily life. While the majority of services focus on driving directions, mapping services for pedestrians are becoming more prevalent. There are online mapping services and handheld navigation devices available that address pedestrian routing, but in a manner very similar to that of driving directions. Additionally, the majority of these services focus on mapping urban environments for those concerned with navigating complex metropolitan areas. Pedestrians on a college campus (including students, alumni, visitors, etcetera) face the challenge of navigating campuses, lecture halls, and the surrounding community traditionally on foot.
Generally, the current solutions provide point-to-point navigation, but do not provide the multi-faceted approach needed for students today. Currently available systems provide only general pedestrian route generation. One such solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,379 titled “Method and apparatus for automatically generating pedestrian route guide text and recording medium” by Hasegwa, et al., which discloses a pedestrian route guide apparatus that includes an input section which inputs a departure place and destination, a route data storage section for storing route data, a landmark storage section which stores a landmark, a route computation section which computes a route from the departure place to the destination on the basis of route data, a route editing section which edits the route, a landmark selector section which selects a landmark at each point on the route on the basis of the route obtained by the route editing section, a route guide text generator section which generates a route guide text on the basis of the route obtained by the route editing section and the landmark information selected by the landmark selector section, and a route text output section which presents the route guide text.
Another solution is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,707 titled “Computer aided routing system” to DeLorme et al., which describes a computer aided routing system (CARS) that determines a travel route between a user selected travel origin and travel destination following user selected waypoints along the way. A CARS database incorporates travel information selected from a range of multimedia sources about the transportation routes, waypoints, and geographically locatable points of interest (POIs) selected by the user along the travel route. The CARS software permits user selection of specified POI types within a user-defined region of interest and user selection of particular POIs from the selected types within the region of interest. The transportation routes, waypoints, POIs and region of interest are identified in the computer by coordinate locations of a selected geographical coordinate system. The CARS software is constructed to present a user-customized travel log for preview on the computer display of the user-defined travel route. The travel planner can preview on the computer display a multimedia travel log particularly customized for the user-defined travel route including multimedia information on the transportation routes, waypoints, and POIs selected by the user. The user can engage in an iterative trip planning process of revising the route and previewing travel logs of revised travel routes until a satisfactory travel route is determined.
The above solutions discuss route generation based on the user input of departure and destination points. Additional systems describe the land marking of destinations based on categories including food, entertainment, etc.
Additionally, there is a solution that offers a navigation system within complex buildings or structures. U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,636, entitled “Destination guidance system and method for generating individually tailored routes within a complex structure” by Kokojima, et al. describes a destination guidance system for providing presentation information that contains guidance pertaining to movement from a place of departure to a destination on the basis of structure information and guidance information on the premises of a building or construction. As defined by this patent, the presentation information contains both information of the entire three-dimensional structure, and detailed information, and a three-dimensional movement and normal two-dimensional movement in the presentation information are presented by different methods. Also, this patent is directed to a destination guidance data acquisition system for acquiring structure information and guidance information on the premises of a building, which are used by the destination guidance system. The destination guidance data acquisition system inputs and compiles information of a three-dimensional structure on the basis of a plan view of the building to support acquisition of the detailed information.
While the above patent describes a system that is helpful to individuals searching for a specific room within a building, this service does not deliver the associated directions to the building. Additionally, with some routes, it might be advantageous to utilize a path through a building rather than around a building in the interest of time. Thus, there is a need for a mapping service that would take a user from departure to the exact location desired, whether that is a public point or a specific location within a building. Furthermore, there is a clear need for a solution which addresses the relative safety factor with any pedestrian's generated route due to the user's assumed inexperience with the geographic area being covered.
None of the previous systems address issues of one's physical safety, which is a large concern to pedestrians and especially pedestrians on a college campus. Therefore, there is a need for a solution that combines the aspects of route generation and building navigation while addressing issues of user safety. The solution should connect the user with the surrounding community through an easy to use user-interface. Further, the solution should incorporate information regarding local attractions and activities with which to connect the user.
Though there exist solutions that address route generation, building navigation, etcetera, there are no solutions that combine these aspects to specifically address the needs of a variety of pedestrians, including pedestrians on a college campus. Thus, there is a need for a personal navigation system that provides reliable and safe routes and information about an area, including the detailed area of a college campus.